Hiring a Project Manager for Major Refurbishment

What a project manager actually does

On a straightforward job — a new kitchen, a bathroom swap, a bit of plastering — you can usually keep the reins yourself. A major refurbishment is a different animal. The moment you are dealing with structural work, a rear extension, a loft conversion or a whole-house rewire, you are running a small construction project whether you intended to or not.

A project manager is the person who holds all the threads. In practice that means:

• Building and maintaining a realistic programme, so the electrician is not standing in a room the plasterer has not finished
• Sequencing trades and confirming dates in writing, then chasing when they slip
• Ordering materials and checking lead times — kitchens, glazing and bespoke joinery are the usual culprits
• Tracking spend against the budget and flagging overruns before they become a problem
• Handling building control, party wall matters, listed building consent and any other approvals
• Managing variations, snagging lists and the final account
• Giving you one point of contact instead of eight

They are not usually doing the design work — that is your architect or designer — and they are not swinging a hammer. Their job is coordination, risk and money.

When it is worth the fee, and when it is not

Hiring a project manager makes financial sense when the job is complex enough that mistakes get expensive. As a rough guide, it is worth considering if your project involves three or more of the following:

• Structural alterations, steels or underpinning
• More than four separate trades
• A programme longer than twelve weeks
• You living off site during the works
• Full-time work that makes weekday site visits impossible
• A listed building or conservation area
• A budget above roughly £75,000

If you are retired, on site daily, and refurbishing a single room with one trusted builder, you will probably do a better job yourself. Coordination is not complicated; it is just relentless. The question is whether you have the time and the temperament for it.

What it costs and how they are paid

There are three common models, and you should know which one you are signing up to before work starts.

• Percentage of build cost. Typically 10 to 15 per cent on domestic refurbishments, sometimes lower on larger jobs. Simple and scales with complexity, but it does give your manager a mild incentive to approve variations.
• Fixed fee. Agreed up front against a defined scope. Good for certainty, but expect a clause covering additional work if the project changes significantly.
• Day rate. Usually £300 to £500 a day for an experienced residential project manager, more in London and the South East. Best for short, defined phases or when the scope is genuinely unclear.

Whichever you choose, insist on a written appointment that sets out duties, visit frequency, reporting and how disputes are handled. Standard forms such as JCT contracts are widely used in the domestic market and give both sides a familiar framework.

How to choose the right person

Look for someone who has managed jobs like yours, not just jobs in general. A project manager who has delivered three loft conversions in your local authority area will know the building control officers, the reliable groundworkers and which suppliers actually deliver on time.

Before you appoint anyone, ask for:

• Two or three recent references from similar projects, and call them
• Evidence of professional indemnity and public liability insurance
• A clear written scope of duties — what is included and what is not
• Their approach to variations and how they will be priced and approved
• Confirmation of who holds and releases payments to trades

A good project manager will also be honest about what they cannot do. If they claim they can handle everything from design to interior styling, be cautious.

Working together without friction

The relationship works best when roles are clear. You make the decisions; they execute and advise. A few habits keep things running smoothly:

• Agree a fixed weekly site meeting, with a short written update afterwards
• Keep a running decision log so choices are not revisited three weeks later
• Never instruct a trade directly — it undermines the manager and creates confusion over who pays
• Sign off variations in writing before the work happens, not after
• Expect a fortnightly cost report against budget, however brief

Be realistic about your own input, too. Even with a project manager, you will need to make decisions on tiles, ironmongery and paint colours at short notice. Slow decisions cost money.

Red flags to watch for

Most project managers are straight and skilled, but the bad ones are expensive. Walk away if you see a reluctance to put anything in writing, a request for large sums up front with no schedule behind it, vague answers about insurance, or a refusal to let you speak to previous clients. Equally, be wary of anyone who promises to save you more than they cost — that is rarely how it works out.

Used well, a project manager is not an extra layer of cost. They are the reason your refurbishment finishes in the right order, roughly on budget, and without you spending six months refereeing arguments between trades.